Washboard-holder.



No. 719,022 PATENTED JAN. 27. 1903.

B. N. MERRILL. WASHBOARD HOLDER.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 19,1902.

N0 MODEL.

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SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 719,022, dated January 27, 1903.

Application filed February 19,1902. Serial No. 94,834. (No model.)

To all whom, it rim/y concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN N. MERRILL, a citizen of the United States, residing at VVoodford, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented a new and useful Washboard-Holder, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to attachments to washboards; and it consists in the construction and arrangement hereinafter shown and described, and specifically pointed outin the claims.

In using the washboard the action of rubbing the clothes tends to force the board downward into the tub when the motion is downward and draw it upward out of the tub at the return or upward movement, and this upward movement is very objectionable and annoying, requiring the constant exertion of the operator to counteract it.

The attachment which is the subject of the present invention is designed to prevent this upward movement of the board, and its construction and application and mode of operation are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side or edge view of a washboard arranged in a section of a tub with one of the improved attachments in position thereon. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one of the attachments detached. Fig. 3 is a sectional elevation of the same.

The invention is applicable to any of the various forms of washboards, and I have shown in the drawings for the purpose of illustration an edge View at 1 of a conventional washboard in position in a tub, a section of which is represented at 2.

One of the attachments will be employed on each side of the board; but as both attachments are precisely alike and are attached and operate in precisely the same manner only one is shown;

The attachment consists of a base-plate 3, of metal and adapted to be attached to the side of the washboard by screws or other fasteners 4:. Projecting outwardly from the base-plate is an arm 5, having a recess 2 and adapted to coact with the plate 3 to support a supporting-arm 6 pivotally by a pivot'pin 7, so that the supporting-arm can be turned 1aterally to either side, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1. By arranging the supportingarm to be turned to either side the device can be attached to either edge of the board and be also applied to a double-sided washboard, as hereinafter explained. The ends 8 of the recess 2 form stops to limit the movement of the supporting-arm and prevent it from falling below a horizontal plane, as shown in Fig. The lower end 0 of the supporting-arm is formed at right angles to the longitudinal line of the supporting-arm and will be engaged by a spring 10, supported by shoulders 11 in the lower part of the recess 2, so that the supporting-arm will be maintained with some degree of force in whichever one of its three positions it may be placed, and this force will be suiiicient to resist any pressure to which it would be liable to be subjected when in use, but which will yield to any abnormal pressure which may be required to throw the lever over into its closed position or to reverse it when employed on a double board.

hen employed on double boards, the plates 3 will be attached centrally of the side bars of the board, so that the supporting-arm 6 will project at an equal distance beyond each side of the board; but when used upon a single board this will not be necessary, as the lever will be projected from one side only. In setting the attachment the board is placed in the tub at the required inclination, and one of the attachments with the supporting-arm projected, as in full lines in the drawings, is placed upon the board with the outer or free end of the supporting-arm 6 in en gagement with the interior of the tub, as shown in Fig. 1, and secured in that position by the screws i, and the same process is repeated on the other side of the board with the companion attachment. \Vhen thus arranged, the su pporting-arms cannot be moved downward below a line perpendicular to the board owing to the presence of the shoulders, formed by the ends 8. Hence any tendency to upward movement of the board will be effectually resisted by the engagement of the outer ends of the supporting-arm with the tub.

This is a very simple, cheap, convenient, and easily-applied device and one whose extreme simplicity will render it very efficient and not liable to disarrangement or breakage.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. In a washboard attachment a plate adapted to be attached to a Washboard and having a laterally-extending arm provided with a recess, a supporting-arm pivoted in said recess and having its end substantially at right angles to its sides, and a spring disposed in the recess and adapted to engage the end or either side of the supporting-arm.

2. In a washboard attachment, aplate adapted to be attached to a washboard and having a laterally-extendin g recessed arm, shoulders formed in the recess, a spring supported upon said shoulder, and a pivoted supporting-arm BENJAMIN N. MERRILL.

Witnesses:

GEo. A. NEWELL, CHAS. A. HASKELL. 

